


Everybody Wants To Rule The World

by partimeobsession



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Apocalypse, Character Death, End of the World, F/M, Fear, Gun Violence, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Multi, Other, Past Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Post-Apocalypse, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:00:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27269869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/partimeobsession/pseuds/partimeobsession
Summary: Keiji walked down the streets of the abandoned town, the wind blowing dust and debris into his eyes as brittle shards of glass from broken store windows crunched beneath the soles of his boots. Stray newspaper papers, flyers, and small pebbles slid along the floor as the light breeze blew past. Empty cars were crushed like soda cans and stood by the curbside, some laying in the middle of the road, large chunks of rock and other rubble thrown through windshields and tearing through the metal hoods.To any average person, the streets looked like a post-apocalyptic war ground.That’s because it was.And Keiji wasn’t an average person.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	1. They're Trying To Catch You.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a fanfiction suggested by @/oisugahq on Instagram, so credits to her for the idea! She writes a Twitter AU on Insta, so go check out her storyline if you can! ★~(◡ω◡✿)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keiji walked down the streets of the abandoned town, the wind blowing dust and debris into his eyes as brittle shards of glass from broken store windows crunched beneath the soles of his boots. Stray newspaper papers, flyers, and small pebbles slid along the floor as the light breeze blew past. Empty cars were crushed like soda cans and stood by the curbside, some laying in the middle of the road, large chunks of rock and other rubble thrown through windshields and tearing through the metal hoods.
> 
> To any average person, the streets looked like a post-apocalyptic war ground. 
> 
> That’s because it was. 
> 
> And Keiji wasn’t an average person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please listen to Run Boy Run by Woodkid while reading this chapter! ôヮô

Keiji walked down the streets of the abandoned town, the wind blowing dust and debris into his eyes as brittle shards of glass from broken store windows crunched beneath the soles of his boots. Stray newspaper papers, flyers, and small pebbles slid along the floor as the light breeze blew past. Empty cars were crushed like soda cans and stood by the curbside, some laying in the middle of the road, large chunks of rock and other rubble thrown through windshields and tearing through the metal hoods. 

To any average person, the streets looked like a post-apocalyptic war ground. 

That’s because it was. 

And Keiji wasn’t an average person.

The beginning of the end of the world started only a few days, weeks, months ago. Keiji couldn’t remember, honestly. He had pushed the memories of his last moments in a normal life out of his mind to focus on traveling far away from high-risk death areas and surviving in a new, destroyed world. He’d spent the last few days in search of a store or home that wasn’t torn to bits just so he could find some food, supplies, and weapons for himself. 

_What’s even the point of doing all this?_ He thought as he stepped out of the road and onto the sidewalk, holding the strap of his empty backpack against his shoulder with one hand, the other gripping a loaded gun he’d stolen from a dead cop a few blocks down. _I don’t know if anyone else is alive, maybe I’m the only one left. If that’s the case, continuing to live is pointless._

Keiji shivered at the thought of himself alone on miles upon miles of land and water - a small, insignificant human against Mother Nature herself. 

_Either way, being alone is better,_ he tried to convince himself. _Traveling with other people, if there are other people, will only drag me down._

He blinked the thought away from the thought of his impending death and continued his walk. What once were pink, silky curtains were now dirty, burnt at the edges, and fluttering out of the smashed window of a clothing store. He peeked inside and saw that a few racks of clothes were left somewhat decent amongst the mess of other scattered outfits. Squeezing his gun tightly, Keiji walked past the window and to where the entrance of the store would be. The glass doors were broken off its hinges and laying on the floor, the metal door frames slightly dented with crushed glass surrounding it. Walking through the empty doorway of the store made him feel a bit ridiculous, as if life were still normal and he was aimlessly wandering into a shop to treat himself to some new clothes, but this was safer than entering through the window and taking the risk of cutting his leg on the sharp shards of glass that stood as a border around the window frame. 

Keiji moved forward, stepping over stray clothes and walking towards the racks. He dropped his backpack down by his legs, tucked his gun under the waistband of his pants, and flipped through a series of shirts, searching for his size. He pulled a couple of tops off the hangers and shoved them into his bag, then moved to a rack of jeans and did the same. He zipped up his bag, slung it over his shoulder, then pulled his gun out again. He turned and scanned over the rest of the store before seeing the cashier’s counter. Beside the register and a toppled-over stand of gum was a phone. 

Keiji’s heart started pounding in his chest at the spark of hope that bloomed inside of him. A phone, a way of communication, right here in front of him. But who would he call? He walked behind the counter and reached for the phone with a shaking hand, slowly lifting it to his ear with the curled wire followed along. Soft orange light illuminated a small screen above the keys, lighting up the space around him as the sun started to set outside. A low humming sound came from the receiver and it beeped quietly when Keiji pressed a button. 

“Please, work,” he prayed under his breath as he punched out the ten-digit phone number to his home phone. He held his breath as his call began to ring out, waiting for someone to answer. He thought of his parents sitting at home, huddled up in the basement, and rationing out whatever food they had left, trying to protect themselves from the dangers outside. 

No matter how tough and cold he tried to act when it came to survival, Keiji’s heart ached to be back home - to wake up in his own, warm bed every morning, to go downstairs and great his parents during breakfast, to feel his mother kiss his cheek when he walks into the kitchen, to hear his father’s deep chuckle as he reads the morning newspaper. 

The ringing stopped and there was a small clicking sound on the other line. 

“Mom?” Keiji’s voice cracked, his throat burning from holding back tears. “Dad?”

There was silence until he finally got a response. 

“I’m sorry, we are not able to send your call,” a woman's automated voice said in a robotic yet sympathetic tone. “Please contact your service provider for more information. Cell towers may be down in your area-” 

A loud groan from right beside Keiji’s ear interrupted the woman’s programmed speech, and he let the phone receiver fall from his hand. He barely had time to turn around before two hands clumsily grabbed his shoulders and began to push him into a nearby wall with more strength than a sumo wrestler. Keiji’s head hit the wall and his heart jumped into his throat as he gripped the handle of his gun. Looking up, a creature with sickly green skin, bloodshot eyes, and yellowed teeth stared back at him momentarily before baring its teeth and going for his neck. Keiji punched the creature in the stomach as hard as he possibly could, catching the sour smell of decay and rot off of its soiled clothes before it stumbled back and bumped against the counter. A rack of sunglasses standing by the cashier wobbled and fell onto the monster, causing it to let out a frustrated roar. 

_Move,_ Keiji willed himself, but his feet felt like they were cemented to the floor. 

The barbarian threw the rack of sunglasses away from itself and growled before facing Keiji again. 

_Move!_

The next moments happened in a flash. 

The brute lunged at Keiji and he let his instincts kick in. He stepped to the side and the creature ran into the wall, which allowed Keiji to grab one of its arms and pin it behind its back, pressing the monster further against the wall. 

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, before raising his gun, jamming it against the miscreation’s head, and pulling the trigger. 

A loud gunshot rang out through the air as the beast tensed with a small whimper, then went slack and dropped to the floor. Keiji pulled away with shaking hands, then wiped the grime from the monster’s arm off his palm. He looked down at the creature, waiting for it to spring up and try to attack him again. Its hand twitched beside Keiji’s leg, and he pulled the trigger again, shooting its arm limp. The shot was dangerously close to Keiji’s foot, but he was too shaken up to notice it. His ears buzzed with the aftermath of the loud, popping gunshots and his heart slammed against his ribcage. 

He retreated from the body, using both hands to hold the gun as he backed away. His breathing was loud to his ears, and he forced his mouth shut and held his breath, hoping that he could avoid attracting any more creatures his way. He stilled and exhaled slowly, standing there and waiting for his breathing to return to normal before lowering his gun and running out of the store as fast as his legs could carry him. 

Death was far too close for comfort. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! All comments and kudos are appreciated. (◡‿◡✿)


	2. Knees Pulled In.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Change your clothes, the voice in his head suggested. When’s the last time you showered? 
> 
> Keiji groaned to himself. Oh, the things he would do to take a hot shower right now. Even a cold shower would bring him peace, just anything to wash the sweat and dirt off of himself. His mind backtracked to the bathroom he used to have before the world turned to shit - the way the room would fill with steam from the heat of the water, the smell of bleach whenever his mother insisted on cleaning the floor tiles, the taste of minty toothpaste in his mouth as he brushed his teeth before school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please listen to Buzzcut Season by Lorde while reading this chapter! (◜௰◝)

After sprinting a few blocks away from the clothing store, Keiji finally paused beside a forlorn-looking bus stop. His thighs burned and sharp pains shot up the sides of his torso as he leaned over, braced his hands on his knees. Panting, he dropped his head and clamped his mouth shut, holding his breath momentarily and exhaling through his nose slowly. He parted his lips and took a deep breath, the air burning its way down his throat and into his lungs. The run wouldn’t have taken as much of a toll on him if he hadn’t been fearing his life the entire time, wondering if another wandering monster would appear from behind a car or from a store and attack him. 

Once he was able to breathe properly again, Keiji righted himself and adjusted the straps of his backpack on his shoulders before turning his head to examine his surroundings. The sun was almost done setting, it was only just peeking over the horizon. The damaged buildings around him cast long, misshapen shadows over the road. Dim street lights flickered on above him, but barely provided enough light to break through the darkness. Keiji took his pack off his back and pulled out a flashlight, zipping the bag back up and slipping his arms under the straps again before clicking on the light. He’d used the flashlight sparingly throughout his travels and often found a safe place to sleep during the night so he wouldn’t have to rely on it to see through the evening. Now was an exception, though, because he still had to find shelter. 

Walking past a few more establishments, Keiji spotted a tall, lone apartment building with shattered windows to match all the other structures on the block. He shone his light down a narrow space beside the building and saw an old, rusted dumpster, along with a fire escape traveling down along the brick wall. The lowest ladder rung that trailed down from the last rickety balcony of the escape wasn’t touching the floor, but he thought he could manage to pull it down. He shone the light down the alleyway one more time before cautiously stepping into the alleyway. Small puddles riddled the ground and he avoided stepping into them, knowing that the water could soak through his shoes and socks and cause him to catch a cold in the chilly weather. 

Pointing his light up at the ladder, Keiji reached up a single hand in an attempt to grab the bottom rung. His fingertips merely brushed the cool metal before his hand fell back down to his side weakly. Sighing through his nose, he put his flashlight between his teeth and stood up on his toes, reaching both of his arms above his head and stretching as far as his limbs would allow until finally managing to grip the lowest rung with two hands. He inhaled slowly and pulled downwards with all his might, the ladder creaking and emitting a loud screech until it stopped abruptly, causing Keiji to fall back on his ass rather unceremoniously. He stood back up, dusting himself off before taking the flashlight out from between his teeth and clicking it off. Working by the dim light of the moon, Akaashi shoved the flashlight into his backpack before he placed his foot on the bottom hold of the ladder, then began his climb. 

As he climbed up the side of the building, he noticed how everything felt _wrong_. His breathing seemed incredibly loud, the steady pace of his heartbeat inside his chest made the entire universe pulsate, he could even hear himself blink. Swallowing slowly, he looked down to see how far he'd gone from the ground, which wasn't a good idea. His stomach lurched and his knees buckled as the ground below seemed to spin, reminding him that one false step could cause him to slip, fall, and be knocked unconscious on the ground, leaving him open and vulnerable for the rotting beasts wandering the streets to devour him. 

He blinked the thought away and gripped the rungs tightly before taking a deep breath and righting himself. 

_Just get to the roof of this building,_ a small voice in the back of his mind said. _Sleeping on higher ground is safer than sleeping out on the streets. Zombies aren't intelligent enough to know how to climb._

Keiji huffed as he climbed up the remainder of the ladder, finally reaching the first small balcony-like build of the fire escape. He pulled himself up onto the rickety metal escape and crawled into the corner, pressing his back against the railing and taking a deep breath. 

After a moment, he scooted to the opening where he'd crawled through and began to pull the ladder back up again. 

_Why am I doing this if I know they can't climb?_

Once the ladder refused to move upwards any more, Keiji wiped his hands in his pants and finally looked up at the stairwell of the escape. There were only six or seven short flights of stairs until he would reach the roof, so he inhaled slowly and began his ascent. The old metal stairs creaked and groaned under his weight, threatening to give out. He gripped the railing, rust scratching his palm as he held his breath and walked a bit slower as not to shake the stairs. He was painfully aware of his shaking knees as he walked, but he couldn’t prevent them from wobbling as they did. 

He hurried his steps as he climbed past the first few windows, worried that a gnarled hand might pop out and yank him into the nearest apartment. 

After making it near the top without having the stairs collapse beneath him or being eaten alive, Keiji exhaled and pulled himself over the ledge of the top of the building, feeling safer now that he was standing on something more solid. He glanced down at the fire escape for a brief moment, as if to check that it was still there and it hadn’t vanished into thin air as soon as he stepped off of it. He inhaled deeply and stood still for a second, shutting his eyes to level himself with his surroundings. 

_Change your clothes,_ the voice in his head suggested. _When’s the last time you showered?_

Keiji groaned to himself. Oh, the things he would do to take a hot shower right now. Even a cold shower would bring him peace, just anything to wash the sweat and dirt off of himself. His mind backtracked to the bathroom he used to have before the world turned to shit - the way the room would fill with steam from the heat of the water, the smell of bleach whenever his mother insisted on cleaning the floor tiles, the taste of minty toothpaste in his mouth as he brushed his teeth before school. 

_School._

_Bokuto-san._

Keiji’s breath caught in his throat and he opened his eyes, feeling tears begin to burn behind his eyes. His lips twitched as he held back the urge to scream, the urge to throw a tantrum. How badly he wanted to wail and shout about how unfair everything was. But didn’t have time to reminisce over his past, he needed to survive the night. 

First things first, he was itching to get out of his clothes. 

He slung his backpack off his shoulder and placed it on the floor, the rustle of fabric seeming to slice through the silence on the roof like a freshly-sharpened knife. He unzipped his bag ever-so-slowly and bit his lip. He felt like he was being too loud even though he knew there wasn’t another person for miles, so it wasn’t like he was disturbing anyone. But even so - the monsters roaming the streets could definitely hear and he wanted to spare himself from drawing attention to his current location. 

He picked a random shirt and a pair of jeans from his pack, beginning to pull off his shoes and clothes as he muttered a thanks to the store he wandered into earlier. As he stood on the roof, practically naked, he let the cold air envelope his body and bring him momentary solitude. Despite the world being as it is now, Keiji had grown to like it sometimes. It was quiet and peaceful in its own way, but he knew that danger could jump out at any time, just like a rose - it was almost painstakingly beautiful, but getting too close to it will cause you to be pricked with thorns. 

He shook himself out of his thoughts and began to pull on the fresh clothes, wiggling his legs into the jeans and pulling the shirt over his head. He grimaced to himself as he realized he didn’t have any clean socks, so he sat on the floor and put his old, slightly damp ones back on before stomping his feet into his boots and lacing them up. He rummaged through the rest of his bag, taking out his flashlight and turning it on. He wrapped the light in a spare shirt and set it on the floor as a makeshift nightlight. 

Keiji reached the bottom of his pack and wrapped his hand around something rectangular, pulling it out of his bag. Granola bars had become a staple food since the world started ending. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, granola bars were there to hold him over until the next day. He unwrapped the bar and bit into it, furrowing his eyebrows as his teeth struggled to bite through the stale snack. Sure, maybe the granola bars are expired, but what else could he do when it was his only option? He yearned to eat a warm meal, but, along with a hot shower, it wasn’t something he could obtain. 

After finishing his dinner, Keiji crumpled up the wrapper and tossed it into his bag before flattening the pack on to the floor and laying down, resting his head on it. It was a decent pillow, but he still preferred the one from his bed. 

Nighttime was the hardest thing Keiji had to deal with through this entire apocalypse - it was the only time where he wasn’t constantly moving, constantly protecting himself, constantly fearing for his life. Night was the time of day when he noticed the quiet, when he noticed the cold, when it was dangerously peaceful. At times, he felt like dying in the silence of the darkness with the stars above him wouldn’t be so bad. 

Laying in the stillness of the night also gave Keiji time to lose himself in his own head. The moment he was able to relax, memories of his past flooded his mind until it felt like his thoughts were screaming at him. He hadn’t slept a proper eight hours since he’d been on his own, and that was because he was drowned by his anxiety every time he shut his eyes, suffocated by the loss he had suffered every time he noticed how still the world was. 

Breathing in the cool air, Keiji closed his eyes and forced himself to keep his mind blank, as if he were staring at a white wall. 

_Tomorrow’s goal is to find more food,_ he reminded himself and his stomach gurgled in agreement. Swallowing back his hunger, he drifted off to a restless sleep. 

It was hard to admit, but this was his life now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! All comments and kudos are appreciated! (☉‿☉✿)


End file.
